


Something Very New

by TheDoctorIsIcecube



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Doctor/Companion Friendship, Gen, Post Regeneration
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-26
Packaged: 2018-12-06 08:51:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11597229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheDoctorIsIcecube/pseuds/TheDoctorIsIcecube
Summary: The Doctor regenerates, and then there's everything that comes after. New people to meet, new things to discover, new adventures to have. There's also ANOTHER Stewart in UNIT to deal with.





	1. Regeneration

**Author's Note:**

> As with all these works so far with Thirteen, this is purely speculative! I'd stop writing them, but they're fun.

The cloister bell was ringing. That was the first thing the Doctor noticed. Squinting through blurry eyes, vision still edged with golden light, all they could see was sparks and fire and broken pieces of console. They’d really gone and messed the TARDIS up this time, she’d have to repair.

What were they like this time? At the moment, everything was too fried to tell. They were full of a manic sort of energy, just like they always were after a regeneration, but that was accompanied by immense tiredness they needed to fight through if they wanted to get themselves out of whatever they’d landed in this time. Stumbling over to the console, they reached for a not-burning lever and pulled it. Nice hands this time around, they managed to observe. As for everything else, that could wait. They wished that whatever was flicking them in the face would stop, though…

Hair. They had hair in their face, that’s what it was, and that was new. It had been a long time since they’d had hair that actually got in the way, for one. No time to check on a colour or anything like that, not yet. They needed to get somewhere safe and then they needed to sleep off the regeneration.

A sudden jerk threw them off their feet, landing hard on the TARDIS floor. They let out a groan of pain, then frowned. That was suspiciously high-pitched. Had they regenerated into a child? That was going to make things interesting… They stood up as well as they could and jumped to try and judge their height. Not short, then, just…

Female. That was it. At least, there was certainly something more feminine about this body. They didn’t know how they felt about that for the moment, they were too exhausted. Were they female, or feminine, or had they just completely misjudged it? No way of knowing yet.

The TARDIS jerked again, but they held on, wrestling the controls until the flight path smoothed out again. She was headed for Earth, of course she was. The Doctor wouldn’t prefer to be anywhere else as they recovered. They were still a little too frazzled to figure out where exactly on Earth, but it was probably England.

“Do you want me out?” They asked. Definitely a female voice, now they thought about it. Accented, but in a way they couldn’t identify yet. “I know it’s a bit toasty in here but I’m sure I can handle it. Will you let me stay, or do I need to be gone for you to sort yourself out? I just need to sleep.”

Another loud ‘bong’ from the cloister bell. The Doctor got the distinct feeling that that equated to ‘please get out’. They nodded obligingly, patting the console and taking a firm grasp on what was left of the railings as they headed for the door. Perhaps slightly too firm a grip- the railings came away in their hand. Oops.

They stumbled out of the TARDIS door before even stopping to look at where they were going. No time and definitely no way to get the TARDIS somewhere else; the Doctor doubted she would move again until she was done. Besides, they probably weren’t strong enough to defend themself from attackers if there was something dangerous out there.  
There were no attackers, though, and there was a bed conveniently right in front of them. On it were two young-ish human males, about the same age as those that they taught in the university. “Sorry,” they murmured. “Need to borrow this…” Neither of the males responded- they looked frankly rather shocked- so the Doctor wasted no time in flopping face-first onto the soft sheets and closing their eyes.

-

“Do you think she’s okay?” The voice that came through was male and soft and very concerned. Ooh, recognising emotions in voices had taken forever to relearn last time.

“I think so,” another voice said. This one sounded confused. “She’s slept for a while and her breathing has evened out, but her heart rate is very strange. I can’t work out what’s wrong there, but I think she might know and be able to say when she wakes up.”

“I can’t get into that box thing she parked in the hallway. It keeps making strange noises… Do you think she’s one of those aliens? Is there some government hotline we’re supposed to call?”

“Shh! I think she’s waking up. Hello, lady? Can you hear me?” A hand touched her forehead, and her eyes flicked open.

“So I definitely am a woman this time around. That’s new.” It didn’t feel wrong, just different, which was pretty usual for a regeneration. She’d expected being a woman to be very...obvious, somehow. Missy had flaunted every aspect, and many Time Lords she’d known found such a change jarring. Then again, she wasn’t exactly much like the other Time Lords.

“This time around…? Are you alright?” The human to her right spoke, the one who first asked if she was okay when they thought she was unconscious. He was tall and had very dark brown, long hair that reminded her of someone. The other was shorter and had blue hair and much darker skin.

“Yes, I’m perfectly fine, relative to previous circumstances.” She sat up, looking around at her surroundings. “Ooh, we’re a little further forward than usual. Around about 2120, yes? And you two…human, both of you. What are your names?”

“What’s going on?” The shorter one insisted. “You just appeared in my flat, slept for ten hours, and now you’re asking us questions. I want to know who you are first.”

“I’m the Doctor. I suppose I could change my name like Missy did, but that seems a little silly… Oh, pardon me. You don’t know who Missy is. Ah...ignore that. I’m the Doctor, that’s all you need to know. Now, please- your names?”

“What’s that box in the corridor?” This time it was the taller one who asked the question. “I’m Erith and this is Sebastian, we own this flat and have the right to evict you. We won’t do that if you answer our questions.”

“The box, ah…it’s my spaceship. I broke her whilst I was regenerating, and she had to make an emergency landing so that she could repair herself.”

Sebastian blinked, confused. “Regenerating?” 

“Oh, yes. Regenerating. About...eleven hours ago, if I’ve slept for ten, I was a grumpy old Scottish man. I haven’t seen myself in a mirror yet, but I know I’m not Scottish.”

“Definitely alien,” Erith said with a sigh. “What the hell do we do with an alien lady? Do you possess people, miss?”

The Doctor couldn’t help but snort. Technically, a Time Lord possessing someone wasn’t unheard of, but she wasn’t intending doing it any time soon and this certainly wasn’t anyone else’s body. “No. It’s complicated and you probably wouldn’t understand. Also, I’m not a ‘miss’. I’m the Doctor.”

“What are you a doctor of?” Sebastian looked unimpressed. “My sister’s got a doctorate in physics.” 

“Ah...many things. It’s far too complicated to explain. My TARDIS ought to be done repairing herself, so I can be on my way… I’m terribly sorry for intruding in your bedroom.” She didn’t feel anywhere close to well enough to leave, but she understood that she wasn’t welcome in the bedroom of two strangers.

“Your heart rate is too fast and you still seem feverish to me,” Sebastian said. “I don’t think it’s safe for you to go yet. I understand that you’re probably eager to go and do whatever lone aliens do, but forgive me for not trusting you entirely and just letting you go when we know nothing.”

“My heart rate is fast because there’s two of them,” the Doctor grumbled. “Just because I look human… Do I look human? Do either of you happen to know where I can find a mirror? It’s a matter of some urgency.”

“I’ll take her to the bathroom,” Erith said, turning to Sebastian. “Can you put the kettle on or something? I think we have a couple of questions to ask before we decide what to do next.”

“I can just leave and get out of your hair any time you like,” she said. She didn’t like the idea of them ‘deciding what to do next’ after interrogating her over a pot of tea, though at the same time she really wasn’t one to refuse tea.

“Oh, no. It’s not 2005 anymore, you can’t just sneak an alien invasion past the human race,” Sebastian said firmly. “How do you like your tea, Doctor?” 

“Um…” This regeneration hadn’t had a chance to ascertain her tea tastes yet. Ah, well. She had always liked it sweet before. “Two sugars...make that three, actually. And milk.”

“A heathen like Erith, I see,” Sebastian said with a smile. The Doctor couldn’t quite work out if he meant that seriously or not, especially as she was completely blank on religious practises in 22nd century Earth. “Three sugars and milk it is.”

“Thank you.” The Doctor swung her legs out of bed, wincing as a wave of dizziness washed over her. By the time she recovered, Sebastian had left to make tea, and Erith was standing with his arms folded, regarding her with a little suspicion. “You were going to take me to the bathroom, yes?”

“Are you okay?” He asked. “You look like you’re going to throw up. Did you get hurt?”

“I replaced every cell in my body from scratch less than twelve hours ago,” she said, covering one eye to block out some of the light in the room. “I think I got hurt before that, but the details are very fuzzy.”

“I see.” Erith turned away, leading her out of the room and sidestepping around the TARDIS. “You parked your box right in front of the bathroom. It’s just in there.” He made a motion with his hand, and the Doctor slipped past the rather tight gap behind the TARDIS and entered the room.

Blonde. She was blonde this time, which was nice. She hadn’t been blonde for quite a while, now. Brown eyes, not quite as piercing as the last ones, thankfully. Her face was much kinder overall, something that had been gone for a while now. She wondered what had changed that meant she went back to how it used to be.

“Well,” she said softly, leaning in and gently prodding at her face and hair. “I quite like this face. It’s quite pretty, too, wouldn’t you say?” That last part was directed at Erith, still standing outside and looking suspicious.

“I guess. Girls aren’t really my thing, though.” The Doctor suddenly remembered that she’d walked into the bedroom when her two hosts were sitting in it together. She really had interrupted them.

“No one tends to be my thing, but I still like the new face,” she said. “I’m bad at voices. What’s the accent? The one I have, I meant to say.”

“Um…something vaguely northern. Yorkshire, maybe?” Erith shrugged. “I don’t know, really.”

“Tea’s ready!” Sebastian yelled from another room. 

“You heard him… Are you done staring at your face yet?” The Doctor got the distinct sense that Erith didn't like her all that much.

“Yes,” she said, poking her nose just to see how it moved. This was all very strange, but because she’d managed to get some sleep she actually felt okay about it. She didn’t feel too feverish, just a little scrambled, though her ability to sense time seemed to be at least partly functioning.

“Good.” Erith turned away from the door, and the Doctor squeezed back out past the TARDIS and followed him into a small kitchen. Not terribly modern by this century’s standards- all the equipment looked to be at least ten years old. “Sebastian, have you found anyone we can call yet?”

“You know Sera from two doors down?” He suggested, and the Doctor saw Erith nod. She went straight over to a counter and leaned against it before picking up the cup that didn’t have a pattern on it. “Her sister works in alien things, some documenting body.”

“Oh, no,” the Doctor muttered. She knew exactly where this was going. “Was this documenting body called UNIT, by any chance?”

Sebastian looked surprised. “Yes… How did you know?”

“I’m an ex-employee, or perhaps current, who knows? We’re on friendly terms. Call them if you want, they’ll tell you I’m not here to invade.”

“We’ll call them later,” Erith said. “I’m not sure they can provide a rounded opinion of you if you know them. Stay here for a little while, we don’t want you worrying the neighbours or anything like that.”

“Erith does that just fine on his own,” Sebastian said, taking a green cup from the counter and handing it to the other man. “No one trusts him alone in a room with salmon anymore.”

“I’m sorry- did you say salmon?” The Doctor frowned, leaning closer. “I’m intrigued. I must know the story behind this.” 

“No, you mustn’t,” Erith said immediately. “We shouldn’t talk to you any more than necessary. In case you’re learning stuff to help you invade…”

“I know plenty already,” she said. “It’s the year 2120 on Earth, and judging by the size of your flat we’re somewhere a good hundred miles from London if not more. Elsewhere there is awful overcrowding and in the last twenty years humans have been leaving the solar system for Agora on Centraxis in the hope of a new life. If I wanted to invade somewhere with humans, it would be a colony.” Her recall seemed fairly decent, which was very good. She didn’t fancy amnesia. Again.

“Oh,” Erith said, a little faintly. “Um… Okay.” 

“Come on, have you not figured out yet that I’m not going to hurt you? I could have killed you in fifteen different ways already if I wanted to, but instead I fell asleep for half a day and now I’m drinking tea. And you must trust me a little, or else you would have tied me to a chair or something whilst I was asleep.”

Erith immediately looked over at Sebastian and pulled a face the Doctor couldn’t read. “Somehow, your words don’t comfort me very much,” he said. “Come and sit down in the living room and we can get to know you before we call UNIT.”

“Fine.” The Doctor took her teacup, following Sebastian as he led the way into another fairly small room, this one lined with sofas with a flat television on one wall. She wasn’t entirely sure what ‘getting to know her’ was going to entail, but judging by how these boys had behaved so far, it wasn’t going to be painful.

She flopped down on the sofa, collecting her thoughts just enough to remember that she probably shouldn’t put her feet up on it; some people thought that was rude and she didn’t want to annoy Erith any more than she apparently had. “So your name is the Doctor?” Sebastian asked. “Just the Doctor? Nothing else?”

“Yes. Just the Doctor. Nothing else.” She smiled cheerily, looking around the room. “Do you keep biscuits around here anywhere? Every good living room should have a biscuit tin. Regeneration always leaves me hungry…”

“No,” said Erith, as Sebastian leant over the side of the sofa and produced a biscuit tin. “We don’t know what she eats, Seb! What if she’s allergic? Or cannibalistic or something, and she’s just going to turn round and eat us?”

“Cannibalistic?” She snorted. That was insulting, really. “I would have starved at least a few hundred years ago if I ate my own people. Don’t worry, I eat human food, it’s just a bit bland at times.”

“And she did specifically ask for biscuits, Erith. I’m sure it’s fine.” Sebastian reached over, handing her the tin. “Don’t eat all the chocolate chip ones, they’re the best and I haven’t had a chance to eat any yet.” Out of courtesy for the nice human, she took a custard cream instead. It was nice how humans never grew out of the best biscuits.

“Thanks,” she said, not remembering until after crumbs fell all over her jacket that she was meant to eat with her mouth closed and definitely not speak when she had something dry and crumbly inside of it. “Oops. I always forget the little things.”

“This regeneration thing you keep mentioning,” Sebastian said curiously. “What is that exactly? And what sort of an alien are you? There’s been so many kinds on Earth that I lose count, but none of them have looked as human as you…”

“When my body dies I replace all of the cells so I don’t die,” she said. “I don’t think I’m really meant to talk about it that much, but honestly stuff all the rules my people set for me. I say that, but I’ve been doing it for a couple thousand years already.” This one was fond of running her mouth, it seemed. She really should stop revealing everything about herself, it was so bad for the mystery. “You won’t know the sort of alien I am.”

“Yes, but tell us anyway? Just so we know…” Sebastian really was a curious one. In a nicer way than Erith, though- much more willing to trust what she told him.

“If you must know, I’m a Time Lord from the planet Gallifrey.” Both of them looked blank in response to that. “I told you you wouldn’t know.” It still stung a little that no one knew anything of the people that used to be considered great (and then terrible) across the universe, but the pain wasn’t as bad as it used to be.

“Will the UNIT people really know, then?” Erith asked. “There are so many types of aliens. I doubt they know you as well as you claim if your people are so obscure.”

“If UNIT has kept all of their files up to date, they will know very well who I am.” The Doctor frowned, looking down at her lap. It had been a long time since she’d last had contact with UNIT- Kate certainly wouldn’t be running the place anymore. “Providing they finally managed to get their dates right, though whether that’s possible I don’t know.”

“Where is Gallifrey, then? Is it close? And how did you travel here?” Sebastian seemed genuinely curious about all of this, and she supposed that as he would never be able to just take a spacecraft and fly there, it was probably okay to tell him a couple of things.

“Not close at all. It’s hidden now, but it used to be in a place called the Kasterborous System, which is a long way away from here. I have a capsule for space travel, that’s what’s in the hall, but it’s a bit complicated for you to understand.” She finished her tea, but refrained from taking another biscuit because Erith looked like he was ready to make her regenerate again.

“Your TARDIS,” Sebastian said. “That’s what you called it earlier, wasn’t it?” 

“Yes, that’s her.” Her air of mystery was clearly not going to last very long. She’d let slip far too much whilst she was still recovering from her regeneration. “She was damaged when I was repairing myself, but she should be done with repairs now. If you’ll let me go, I can go to her now and I’ll be on my way.”

“No, we’re going to call UNIT. Just to make sure you are who you say you are.” Sebastian smiled at her. “I believe you, but someone is a little paranoid. Understandably, I suppose. You did technically break into our house…”

“I didn’t break in at all! I haven’t broken anything!” She didn’t fancy seeing an unfamiliar UNIT when she was in this state. She wasn’t as bad as she had been, but if UNIT wanted her to work on something with them she wouldn’t be at full strength. Everything still felt a bit wrong and she knew she would find it more difficult when it wasn’t just a conversation with two men.

“Actually, you knocked a glass off the shelf when you stumbled into our bedroom,” Erith said. “We’re calling UNIT. If you’re telling the truth, they won’t hurt you and you have no reason to be concerned. But if they do have a reason to hurt or detain you then you’re lying to us and that’s a pretty good reason not to trust you.”

“Oh...fine.” The Doctor sighed, glancing at Sebastian, who gave her an apologetic shrug. He was rather nice, that one. He’d make a good companion. It was worth sticking around until UNIT came if it meant staying on these two’s good side. She had no idea if the man would want to see the universe, but she knew that being on her own entirely was never a good idea.

“Thank you,” Erith said. “I’ll go down to see Sera now and call them. They might be a while, of course, but don’t leave please. The government are meant to know about all the aliens that come to Earth.” The Doctor laughed at that. The notion that they could keep track of everyone! Ridiculous.

Erith left the room then- not without one last suspicious glare- and the Doctor was left alone with Sebastian. Finally. It was nice to not have a pair of eyes drilling into her soul every time she moved an inch.

“You’re a lot more open-minded than your boyfriend, aren’t you? He’s nice enough, I’m sure, but he hasn’t relaxed since I woke up. I am truly sorry for crashing onto your bed, by the way. I hope I didn't interrupt anything…?”

Sebastian’s cheeks darkened at her words. “It wasn’t anything at that point, no,” he mumbled. “I’m glad you didn’t arrive about two minutes later, though.” The Doctor tried not to be phased by that, but it was hard. She had walked in on a rather intimate moment and she found that fairly embarrassing now the adrenaline had passed. That was a difference, then, compared to some of her past selves.

“Well. As soon as we’ve got this whole UNIT business out of the way, you two can get back to whatever you were doing.” She sighed. “They’re going to take a good hour to get here…unless they’ve managed some particularly fast form of travel by this century.”

“Are you a time traveller?” He asked. He was sort of squinting at her, as if he could tell she had travelled in time just by looking at her. “You know, like in HG Wells or something. Because you keep saying things like you don’t know what the world is like now.” Very observant and not afraid to ask questions. She really liked this one.

“Yes. I am. My box, my TARDIS, is a time machine as well as a spaceship. I could jump inside and come back five minutes ago if I so wished. Except that would cause me to meet my past self, which would create a bump in space-time, which is all sorts of not-very-good for the nice stable universe that we know.”

“Is it confusing?” In that moment, it was very confusing to think about whether she had possibly been here before. It was possible, of course, it always was, especially as she always forgot when she met her future selves. But at the moment, things weren’t very clear. Her head was all muddled and practically only her time sense was working.

“A little. But I’ve had thousands of years to master it.” She grinned. “I don’t explain all the complexities of it to my human friends, it would hurt your brains if I did. Time travel is a tricky business, but I do manage to cause only a relatively small amount of trouble.” That was a little bit of a lie, she often caused a lot of trouble, but she did her best.

“Does that mean you know what happens in the future? As in, soon?” She did. In only a few decades, the planet would be occupied by Daleks. By now, the recession must have hit, too, and life was probably only going to get worse for people on this planet. But she couldn’t say something to this young man.

“I do, at least partially. If you’re looking for advice, or lottery numbers, or something, though, I can’t help you. I can’t mess with established events.” She paused. “All I’ll say is that you and your boyfriend should look to be on an off-world flight at some point in the next thirty years. Human colonies are fantastic places to live, but make sure it’s out of this solar system.”

“I-” Sebastian suddenly looked very afraid, and the Doctor wondered if maybe she shouldn’t have mentioned it. “Thank you? I know I probably can’t ask any more. I’ll try, I just-” If the boy came with her, she could probably make sure they got out. That was a solution she would have to look into. No one on Earth had deserved to suffer through those terrible years, and even though it broke all of her rules she wanted to alleviate some of that.

“Don’t you worry about it. If it becomes necessary, I’ll make sure you end up safe. I like you. And your grumpy boyfriend, although I’m not sure he returns the sentiment.” No sooner had she finished speaking when Erith pushed open the door again, going to sit next to Sebastian on the sofa.

“UNIT’s on their way, Seb. The woman on the phone sounded kind of...excited when I told her about the Doctor…” The Doctor smiled at that. So, hopefully, she didn’t have to worry about UNIT trying to arrest her for something she (probably) hadn’t done (yet).

“What was her name?” She asked. She doubted UNIT was still full of the same old people, but she could definitely hope. The Stewarts had always been able to put up with her, with a little annoyance on the side anyway.

“The woman I spoke to didn't give her name, but she said ‘Alice will want to deal with this one personally’.” Erith shrugged. “She a friend of yours?”

“Alice…no, I haven’t met an Alice.” Possibly of some relation to Alistair Lethbridge-Stewart, though. That was a good sign. Then again, a similar name didn’t mean anything. She could only hope.

“Well, they’re on their way,” Erith said. “I’d say make yourself comfortable, but I think you already did that in our bed last night.”

“I already apologised for that…really, I didn't mean to interrupt you. My TARDIS simply flew me to a convenient place on Earth, and apparently your house was the most convenient place.” The Doctor shrugged. “She has odd ideas about convenience sometimes.”

“Does she have a pilot, then?” Sebastian asked. The Doctor frowned, trying to work out what the correct answer to that one was.

“I suppose,” she said. “It’s more of a link. A telepathic link, that’s something my species have, but not to you lot, don’t worry. She’s sort of a machine and sort of the pilot. She’s sentient, that’s what I’m trying to say, but I control where she goes a little. Just not when I’m like I was then.”

“Right. I’m still not sure she’d a very good ship if she decided to land you right in the middle of- well. What we were doing.” The tips of Erith’s ears flushed pink, and he shook his hair over the top of them to cover them up.

“Excuse me, she is a very good ship.” The nerve of this human! Suggesting that her most consistent friend wasn’t much good at what she was meant to do. “She landed me in a place where I could rest and somewhere where I wouldn’t get killed on the spot. I think she did rather a good job, considering she was on fire.”

“She has a point,” Sebastian said, laughing softly. “She didn't do us any harm, and neither did her ship… It could have been a lot worse. And considering she walked in when she did, I’d say her TARDIS has a good sense of comedic timing.”

“Well I wish the timing had happened to someone else,” Erith muttered, but he didn’t seem too annoyed anymore.


	2. UNIT

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> UNIT arrives to question the Doctor.

About an hour of awkward conversations about history later, there was a sharp knock on the door of the flat. “That’ll be UNIT,” she said, jumping off the sofa. Erith moved to stop her, standing in the doorway of the living room.

“You should stay here,” he said. “We’ll invite them in.”

“Oh, fine, if you insist.” The Doctor stepped backwards, slumping back down onto the sofa as Erith went to answer the door. Sebastian shot her another apologetic look; she smiled wryly at him in return. Already, she seemed to be making a good friend.

She heard the door open, and Erith said hello to some people. There were at least three of them, and she could hear that at least one was heavily armed, if not two. Sharper hearing seemed to be new this time, her previous body was so old. “We’re representatives of the Unified Intelligence Taskforce, and we have been informed that there is an alien currently in your flat.” That was a man speaking, and the way it was muffled suggested he was wearing a helmet. “Please permit us entry or we will have to force our way in for your own safety.”

“Hello!” The Doctor stood up from the sofa, not letting Erith get in her way this time. “I’m the alien in question, there’s no need to force your way in anywhere. I’m the Doctor. Newly regenerated- isn’t this a pleasant face?”

“Really?” A young woman pushed past a man in a bulletproof vest (the Doctor sort of wanted to know why he needed one when only the UNIT people were carrying guns). Ah. That was definitely a Stewart in front of him. “You don’t look anything like any of the Doctors we have on record, but your TARDIS seems right.”

“I told you, newly regenerated from the grumpy old Scottish one. You won’t have seen him for around a hundred years, yes?” The Doctor extended her hand to the definitely-a-Stewart woman, shaking it enthusiastically. “Are you Alice, by any chance?”

“Alice Stewart, head of established interplanetary relations at UNIT,” she said. The Doctor tried to ignore the blush on the girl’s face. “I’ll admit it’s quite an honour to meet you, Doctor. I’ve heard lots about you.”

“The honour is all mine. Good to know there’s still a Stewart in charge of things. Now, can you please inform these lovely young men that I’m not a threat to Earth? I quite fancy being allowed to leave their flat at some point soon.” The Doctor glanced back at Erith and Sebastian. The former was watching her suspiciously, whilst the latter was just smiling.

“We are meant to ask you a few questions first,” Alice said. “Would you two prefer if we did it elsewhere? We can take the Doctor back to the UNIT headquarters but we’d have to leave someone here to keep an eye on their time capsule.”

Erith opened his mouth to speak, but Sebastian got there first. “You’re welcome to stay and question her here. Would you like some tea? Or biscuits?” 

“Biscuits would be nice. I skipped lunch to come and find out if this really was the Doctor I’ve heard so much about…” Alice stepped into the living room, seating herself in an armchair. The two armed men immediately took positions standing either side of her. “Oh, bugger off you two. No one will get hurt if there aren’t any guns.”

The Doctor laughed as the two men shifted awkwardly before propping their guns up on the edge of the sofa. One chose to sit down on the arm of the sofa before thinking the better of it and standing up again. “What did you want to ask? I can’t promise I know the answer, unfortunately. Still a bit muddled.”

“Just a few simple things. I would love to know how you got here.” Alice leaned forwards, meeting the Doctor’s gaze. She looked so excited- it was hard not to smile.

“I regenerated, and in doing so, wrecked the console room of the TARDIS. She decided to make an emergency landing somewhere that I could rest. Apparently, this was the best place…”

“It seems to have turned out fine,” Alice said. “How did you regenerate? Is it anything we need to worry about?” Cybermen. Well, humans certainly did need to worry about them, but not for a little while.

She shook her head. “Something very far off world. Cybermen, which I’m sure you know plenty about. But all of the fallout from that was resolved over a century ago on Earth, so you don’t need to fret.”

“Ah. Well, that’s good to know. You certainly aren’t a threat, Doctor, so your, um, new friends don’t need to worry.” Alice smiled over at Erith and Sebastian. “Thank you for calling us, though. Any excuse to meet the Doctor is a good one.”

“It’s a pleasure, for once,” she said. Her next words would likely be followed up by ‘well, actually’, but she was going to say it anyway. “Normally, the only time I see anyone from UNIT I have to help them with something alien related. It’s nice that Earth is relatively safe for once.”

“Well, a- actually, I suppose you’re right. Hmm. We had a call earlier, but it turned out to be nothing of importance.” Alice shifted in her chair. “Perhaps you should hang around a little longer, though? Just in case... “ The Doctor got the sneaking feeling that perhaps she was only being told to stay just so she could be talked to a bit more. But perhaps that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.

She chuckled. “Maybe I’ll drop in a bit later, when you let me go. Just to check that everything’s okay. Am I still being paid? I can help you with a couple of things if you humans are still puzzling over something alien like usual.”

“Are you- oh! Of course, I forgot you used to work here. Were you serious about that? Do you need money? You’ve probably got about a hundred years of pay to collect if you need it…” Alice trailed off, looking vaguely flustered, and the Doctor decided to take pity on her.

“I was only joking. I’ll check on aliens for you any time you like.” She didn’t need any money (probably, she never bothered to check). She was tempted to say she’d do anything for a pretty girl, but that didn’t feel like her. Probably a remnant of someone else she knew breaking through there. “I can come later, but who knows, I might be a week off.”

“Thank you. You’re very kind. That’s what everyone always says about you, I know, but it’s true…”

“Okay, now that you know she isn’t a threat, can you maybe let her go home? Her box is blocking our hallway.” That was Erith, stepping forward and looking slightly annoyed.

“One more,” Alice said, “and then we’ll be out of your hair. Do you know anything about the location of the other...the other Gallifreyan? Missy, last time we knew her. Do you know where they are?”

Missy. She left Missy on the ship with all those Cybermen and she’d hinted that maybe...she had to go and find her as soon as possible. She might have just regenerated back there, or maybe she got away in the Master’s TARDIS. Maybe. She doesn’t know and she didn’t even realise until that moment that she’d just left quite a few important people on that ship.

“Oh,” she said faintly. “I, um… I may have a few things to attend to quite urgently. Missy, the last time I saw her, was on a spaceship with me, fighting Cybermen. As was my friend Nardole, and Bill...no, not Bill.” She frowned. Something hazy- stars, and tears, and two girls. “Maybe Bill. I’m not sure.”

“So she’s not here? I understand that it’s...complicated, but I’m glad she’s not here.” The Doctor tried not to let that hurt her, because she understood that Earth had all of the bad history with the Master and Missy but none of the good history that she’d experienced as a child. Had her past self even told UNIT that Missy was going to be on the planet for years? She couldn’t remember. Probably not. Her past self didn't tell anyone much of anything. It was time for a change from that- less of the grumpy, more of the honest.

“If I find her, I’ll let you know. She has undergone quite a dramatic change of personality, though. And it’s genuine, I assure you. She’s much more pleasant company than when you last encountered her.” Well, she remembered finding her more pleasant, but Bill hadn’t. Oh, Bill. She felt so bad.

“Thank you,” Alice said. Her smile was sort of shy, but it was genuine, and the Doctor managed a smile back. “Well, sirs, I thank you for your time today, and your custard creams. You were certainly right to call us.”

“Thank you for showing up and stopping Erith from worrying.” Sebastian grinned at him, and then reached over to shake Alice’s hand. “It’s been nice having you here.” Erith looked a little doubtful of that, but the Doctor was beginning to wonder if there was anything that he wasn’t suspicious of. “If it’s- if you’re safe, Doctor, maybe I could just…? It would be really cool to see another world, I’ve only ever been to the moon before.”

“Absolutely not,” Erith said, and at the same moment, the Doctor said he could. Of course he could! It was his choice, and she would try to keep him safe. She loved giving curious humans the chance to see something more than they normally would. “It’s probably really dangerous.”

“I promise you, Erith, I’ll keep him safe. You can come with me too, if you’d like.” She smiled as sweetly as she could, hoping to melt that stubborn heart a little. Erith’s mouth twisted into a disapproving expression, but he sighed.

“Fine. I don’t want to come with you, but as long as you keep him safe… You said it’s a time machine, right? So you can bring him back literally five seconds after he leaves.”

“Absolutely,” she said, and he smiled at Sebastian. “Tell you what, I’ll check in at UNIT first and come back within ten minutes or so to prove I can.” She then smiled to Alice and made her way over to the TARDIS. The thrill of discovery filled her as she felt the TARDIS’ gentle hum. She would be new too. “Two hours from now back in the UNIT base?”

“Yes, okay. But- um- may I come with you too?” Alice looked nervous, as if she was worried that the Doctor would deny her request. As if that would ever happen. 

“Of course, but I’d rather meet you back at UNIT.” The Doctor ran a hand fondly over the outside of the TARDIS. “She’s all new inside, and I’d rather like to explore privately for a little bit.”

“Don’t forget,” Alice said with a smile, and the Doctor nodded and waved before she stepped inside the TARDIS. Home again.


End file.
